Soil ?

[Farmette]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

I would highly suggest you tarp or cover your compost piles to keep rain from leaching nutrients out of the pile. Occasionally uncover or hand water to keep it from drying out though.

Right now my compost pile is one of those covered plastic things and it is not working as well as I'd like. So, I was planning on making some out of pallets or wire. Pure harvest, your comment about covering a compost pile is well taken.
Dutch, I am open to using cotton seed meal, etc. Do you just leave the leaves/grain on the top of the soil or do you work it in to the top few inches? If not do you have trouble with it blowing off? My garden is on top of a hill and it can get pretty windy at times. Great for drying leaves after a rain, but not so great for some other things.